Welwitschia mirabilis: duality and transformation

by Marijke Creveld

In the Namib
desert a very special tree is found, the Welwitschia
mirabilis. Its South African name is Tweeblaarkanniedood (two-leaved and impossible to kill). This living
fossil is an ultimate survivor. It grows to a height of only one metre, although the root can go down as deep
as thirty metres. It has only two leaves, but
these are giant sized. The tree is dioecious and has both angiosperm and gymnosperm
character states. It is linked to the
number Two, to duality and to the transformation of our age.

SummaryThe tree, Welwitschia mirabilis, Tweeblaarkanniedood, grows in the Namib
desert. It belongs to a unique plant group, that of the Gnetophyta, a
group that has both gynmosperm and angiosperm characters.

The homeopathic remedy is made
using material from old female and male trees growing close to a site where
uranium is found.

During the Welwitschia dream proving many participants had dreams featuring
the number Two. This is the duality we humans have to deal with – a choice between good and evil.
We feel divided, in some cases even split up. We are looking for a partner in
order to feel whole. This is reflected in the dream proving themes in the
female-male duality (Yin-Yang), light and dark, above and below, old and young.
Some of the provers experienced this as well and
expressed their feelings using words like hate and love, Cain and Abel, Adam
and Eve. The themes of far-sightedness and clairvoyance
occur, both in dreams and in daytime experience. Physical complaints
experienced during the dream proving were varied,
for example, stomach problems and tension in the chest area.

Welwitschia can probably help in the transformation process in the
duality field. The remedy will probably be most suitable for very sensitive (HSP),
intuïtive, far-sighted and clairvoyant persons.

BotanicalClassificationSome examples of local names of Welwitschia are Tweeblaarkanniedood
(South African), Onyanka (Herero), Tumboa (Angola); Kharos
(Nama), Khurub (Nama). Welwitschia is
assigned to the Gnetophyta which includes one class, the Gnetopsida which in
turn includes thee orders: Welwitschiales, Ephedrales and Gnetales. The three
orders all have just one family, with just one genus. Here: Welwitschiaceae,
with W. mirabilis the only species of the genus.

Gnetophyta have some Gymnosperm characters shared with conifers like
Pinus and Thuja, but some Angiosperm characters – like wood vessels in the
secondary xylem – as well. Welwitschia is not only pollinated by wind (like the gymnosperms) but also by insects. Both
the female and male flowers produce nectar; the male flowers produce small
quantities of pollen. Both characters are typical of insect-pollinated
angiosperms (lit. 10). The male flowers are similar to some Angiosperm flowers
(lit.10).

Two
subspecies occur, differing in the male cones. The Swakopmund tree belongs to
the subspecies Namibiana.

Botanical
description
Welwitschia
has a bole, two leaves and roots. The short woody bole is hard, hollow and
obconical; it usually grows no higher than 50-80 centimetres. The two leaves
are hard, leathery, ribbon-shaped, very long and make a tangle on the ground.
With age they divide into strips which get frayed and die at the tips. They
grow from the base and can be up to 2 – 4 metres long. By night, dew and fog
condense on the leaves and drip down. Just below the sandy surface the many
tiny roots take in this moisture, while the leaves take in water through their
stomata. The taproot goes down as far as 30 metres and is able to draw water from this depth; it serves as an anchor, enabling the tree to survive in the fierce
desert winds.

Male and female trees exist (dioecious species). The male cones are
pinkish brown and smaller than the female cones,
which are pink with some dark purple. The seeds measure 36 x 25 mm large
and show white, papery wings. They are dispersed by wind in spring when the female
cones disintegrate (lit. 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12).

Distribution and
ecologyWelwitschia occurs only in the Namib Desert, a narrow arid strip some
1,500 kilometres along the northern Namibian coast and of south western
Angola.

The region is extremely arid, the average
annual precipitation is less than 100 mm and some years don’t see any precipitation at all. Most trees are
found in the fog zone which reaches up to 80 kilometres inland. This fog is an
important source of moisture. Temperatures differ greatly,
between up to 45 centigrade by day while in winter night frosts occur.

Carbon dating indicates ages between 400 and 1500 years for these
trees, while some are thought to be 2000 years old. (lit. 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)

The homeopathy
remedy

The homoeopathic remedy
Welwitschia mirabilis is produced from parts of female and male trees
aged some 600 to 1000 years growing near
Swakopmund, next to the Namib uranium mine.Moreover, the remedy Radix Welwitschia mirabilis has been
produced. (lit. 4)

UseNo medical use of this tree is known.

Cones of female trees used to be eaten by man. They were baked in hot
ashes. The Herero name Onyanga, meaning desert onion, originates from this use.
Larger animals like antelope and rhinoceros eat the leaves. (lit. 11)

SymbolismThe ecology of the tree and the Afrikaans name Tweeblaarkanniedood suggest
that Welwitschia is an able survivor. In literature it has been described as a
living fossil dating back to the Jurassic age when gymnosperms and
dinosaurs were prevalent.

Welwitschia grows in the region where the San (Bushmen) live. They
have been shown to possess the most ancient DNA of all humans;
they are an ancient people that survived everything.

During my trek through Namibia I often had a sense of travelling
through the land of creation, of being close to man’s origins. This was a
backdrop for thoughts of Adam and Eve expelled from paradise on account of
their lapse into sin, and the dualism of the choice between good and
evil that followed: the ambiguous world. The number Two and
transformation are clearly present in the tree: it shows two leaves, is
dioecious and is halfway between gymnosperm and angiosperm. Therefore, material
from both female and male trees was used.

Welwitschia was named after its discoverer, Welwitsch, creating a
possibility for wordplay with ‘well’
and ‘witch’, mirabilis
meaning ‘wonderful’,
which is nicely in tune.

Tweeblaarkanniedood is Namibia’s national tree; Namibian coins show a
coat of arms featuring this tree and an eagle (lit. 7, 10)

AstrologyThe time I visited Welwitschia to collect material was astrologically
significant. In mid-heaven, Mercury, Venus and the Luck point were
grouped in Virgo; nearby the Sun, Saturn and Mars were found. Pluto was in the
ascendant. In these times Pluto plays a major role, being the transformer of
the dark to light and love. Pluto also largely features in the Diospyros kaki
Creveld remedy (the plutonium bomb; at the time of the bomb
event Pluto and the Sun were together in Leo. In the Welwitschia horoscope,
Uranus is at the IC in Pisces (uranium nearby). Neptune,
along with the northern lunar node (indicates the goal, the karmic) in Aquarius
(the age of Aquarius) on the cusp of the third house.

The horoscope confirms what I intuited: this tree can help us to
survive in this plutonic age of transformation. The tree offers a transforming
power for the new Aquarius age in which we can live from a place of light and love, using major intuitive powers.

ProvingAt the beginning of November, 2008, a blind
proving using Welwitschia was held. Thirty participants have slept with the
remedy (200K potency) during the same three consecutive nights. Some of them
have smelled the tube during the last night. Two of them ingested the remedy during
the proving. Two weeks later, one person
slept with the remedy for three nights. There were twenty-one females and ten
males, aged between thirty and seventy-one. Dreams were clear and profound.
Some dreamers felt slightly alienated and had doubts whether these were dreams
or thoughts. Some participants had thoughts fitting in this theme during the
day as well.

Theme provingIn dream analysis I found several themes, partly general themes I
found in provings with other trees, such as above and below; clean-up and
repair. Some themes of the dreams with Welwitschia were also found during the
Diospyros kaki Creveld provings (lit. 1,2) and those with Pinus longaeva (lit
3). Examples are light and dark; survival, security, struggle, danger and
death.

I only enumerate the themes which occurred in the dreams of several
participants. I list some rubrics of the repertory and some parts from the
dreams in italics.

Two, the number

Many dreams featured the number Two, the number of duality, the number
that figures in the tree’s anatomy and its Afrikaans name.

- With two other women- About two high- These windows consisted of two parts- We share everything fairly; my half bulb- Every time there was a contrast of
situations, like poverty alongside wealth

DREAMS - NUMBERS; of - number twoDREAMS - DIVIDED, in two partsDREAMS - DUALITY; sense of

Female-Male

Some dreams deal with the female and male duality, or the union or
transformation of male and female.

- See complete dreams 1- The woman undressed, and then it proved
to be a man. He had a penis! A beautiful man, but he should not be in our room
since that was reserved for women only.- He suddenly becomes a she, and she is
laughing.- S. is there as well, she looks beautiful.
She is wearing black clothes and ivory earrings in the shape of tortoises. Iwanted to come
too. (comment by dreamer: I feel that both colleagues are rather male-looking,
not graceful like these tortoise earrings. The sturdy male parts could be more
integrated with the female parts. At work, I want to be more female, soft and
pure).- The women and men are sitting apart from
one another. There are many women and five men. We are really separate. I am
impressed by that.- She took care of me, despite my being
dirty (male).

There are dreams which clearly have to do with transformation in
various fields, like women – men, light – dark, old – young, above – below;
cleaning up. Then there are dreams featuring the word transformation, or which
are perceived as transformation dreamed by the prover. A clairvoyant proving
the remedy saw the Tarot card of Art, which stands for
transformation, the union of
contrasting parts, creative power.

- First, I hid myself on the roof. Later on
I was lying on a lawn in a very prim neighbourhood. I was soiled by earth or
mud (the dreamer experiences this as a transformation).- Renovation of a building.- I absolutely forgot what I dreamt;
however, I know that it had to do with transformation.- A cathedral that Hitler had lined with a
layer of bricks on the inside; now there were three such layers and I decided
that all of it had to be removed again.

DREAMS – TRANSFORMATION

Clear

There were conspicuous dreams about far-sightedness, clairvoyance and
a clear understanding.

- He can see what everyone is in the house
is doing.-
I was at a ‘Non Violent Communication’
meeting. I suddenly understand the structure
(which I missed at the meetings in reality).- D. has been a soothsayer.- The mycelium in the ground under the
leaves was visible.- There was no goal for him to aim at. Curiously, everyone knew whether it as a hit
or a miss.

DREAMS - CLAIRSENTIANTDREAMS - CLAIRVOYANTDREAMS - CLEARNESS of mind

Old and Young, past and present

Dreams occurred in which old/ the past and young/ the present were
contrasted.

Interpretation: this stands for the duality of the 4th dimension.

- The child is changing into my aunt, my
mother’s sister. She is old.- Her father was a young man again.- Two ages, past and present, were
concurrent.- How it used to be, and how it is now.

Light/ white and dark/ black. In many dreams, white and light featured, alongside dark and black. Interpretation: this refers to the duality of good and evil.

- The cover was gently yellow and showed
big black letters Ilulia. (comment by dreamer: Ilulia made me think of Lucia
which means light).-
The house was very bright and spacious.-
The stone is very large and lit from the
inside.- She is wearing black clothes and ivory
earrings in the shape of tortoises.

Survival, security, struggle, danger, death. Many dreams dealt with danger, (in)security and survival. Interpretation: Welwitschia is a
tree that can help us deal with such anxiety and trauma.

- The atmosphere was tense, there was much
tension.- I did not feel free with that one. I felt
imprisoned in the house.- A man is using me as a hostage. We are
going underground because he has just blown something up. In order to survive I’m acting as his
girlfriend. He’s very dangerous.He blows things up and gets a kick out of it. He
always carries explosives…otherwise he’ll be killed by this madman.

Being naked, sexuality. Dreams featuring (partially) naked people. Sexually oriented dreams
which are not always a pleasant experience for the dreamer. These dreams often
deal with sex between two differently aged people, the female
being the older one. Interpretation: in Welwitschia this is probably linked with the female
and male duality. Female wisdom becomes important. Maybe this also refers to
duality in time.

- The mother is intensely kissing her son
who sits next to her with his upper body naked. The son clearly does not likeit. It does not
appear as a loving action, it rather looks grim. The son is a silent subject.
Another person says: ‘Things aren’t always what they seem to be.’- My coat is blown aside, showing my
bottom, over which they make a comment, even if it’s said quietly.

Above and below. The large number of dreams featuring this distinction is conspicuous.
In dreams with Welwitschia, an intermingling of
the notions above and below occurs. Interpretation: this reflects the connexion that trees have with the
earth and the cosmos/ spirituality. Welwitschia brings the cosmos and the earth
closer together.

- I felt that I should not want to go up
but down; however, the escalator that could go down was rolling upwards.- I wanted to look down.- I use the elevator to go down.- I have to climb up to get in.

Clean-up, repair. Many dreams featured themes like cleaning, dirt and repairs. Interpretation: this refers to the possibility of the remedy being of
good use in case of letting go of old and dark
matters; a transformation.

- Another woman I knew started cleaning the
window panes. They had not been cleaned for ages. I was under the impression
that this was because she wanted to finish the alterations before she started
cleaning.- There’s a lot of rubbish in the garden:
leaves and paper. I’m going to clean it up.- An old hotel, but it had been restored.

- See complete dreams 1 and 2.- We’re sitting at the bottom of a very
high tower. It really reaches up into the sky.- I saw an army with very many golden
shields. The sun was
reflected in them, giving the whole thing a very special lustre. Then, I saw
some golden boughs which were plaited. The same colour, again with the sun
shining on them.- I found a devil’s egg, an earthstar and a
kind of death’s head mushroom. A little wooden cross was found near these
mushrooms.- We arrive at Glastonbury in England and I
have put the largest crystral I have at home on a kind of wall.

Flying. Several provers dreamt that they could fly or
soar. Interpretation: this is linked to venturing outside the body; the
spiritual world.

DREAMS – FLYING

Large size. This mainly deals with large buildings.

- I’m in a large house.- Several large tents.- A large shed where we (myself and two others?)
went to sleep.- We’re at the bottom of a very large
tower.

DREAMS – BUILDINGS, bigDREAMS – ROOMS, bigDREAMS – CAR, big

Physical
complaints in the dreams

In the dreams relatively few physical complaints occurred. The word
‘disabled’ occurs with three dreamers. Some dreamers felt very cold by day,
another few felt very hot. This appears in the dreams, just more than once.

- We’re looking at someone, a disabled
person?- A disabled woman lying in bed.- I was covered by something against the
cold.- The sun is so hot.

DREAMS – DISABLED peopleDREAMS – COLD, beingDREAMS – HOT, the sun is

Physical symptoms
during the proving

Some physical, psychological and mental symptoms were experienced by some
of the participants. There were some stomach problems; a different sleeping
pattern; some chest problems, often coupled to stress, and some temperature
problems. Some provers felt they could think clearly, and even far-sighted.

Several participants had thoughts of duality and the number of Two.
Some felt they were exploring a deeper layer, more unity within themselves. A
feeling of freedom and compassion occurred. Two participants thought of Cain
and Abel:

- Adam and Eve were a team too; did they
not have two sons, Abel andCain? (thoughts, not dreams)- I get up that day with part two (of the
dreams) that I’m reconsidering. For one moment I felt my own angry self and
during these last days I’ve been working on not judging. I make an effort
towards my brother who in daily life sometimes is like Cain and Abel. Hate and
love. I seek forgiveness and connection (thoughts).

1.The front of
the monastery was open and when I stepped inside I seemed to go back in time.
Two ages were concurrent. Inside there was a modern desk with two women
standing behind it. In a bottle there was a piece of soft cheese surrounded by
a lot of fungal growth. A dead white mouse with a black eye cover was lying
there. It had a black triangular hat and a little red shawl around its neck, it
was barely alive. It was on its back with its snout pointing upward. Alongside
it was a mole, a black one with its snout pointing toward the earth. It had a
white speck of fungal cheese on its face (yin and yang)

Interpretation –
in this dream the themes of the number Two, old versus new duality, white and
black, above and below, yin and yang (male and female) occur.

2. We went down
to a village we could see far away: Sandrana. We descended some way by walking
and some way by a chair lift. The paths are narrow and the ravines are deep,
but not wide. You might be able to jump across them. I told a boy he had to be
careful not to fall into the ravine. Because – so I thought – you would get to
the bottom of the earth. Once descended we had to go up again.

Interpretation – The woman who dreamed this said Sandrana made her
think of Shangri-la, paradise on earth. The time before the Fall, predating the
duality between good and evil, between man and woman; when there was unity.
Moreover the above and below theme features in the dream.

The complete proving of Welwitschia mirabilis, Diospyros kaki
Creveld,Radix Diospyros kaki
Creveld, Pinus longaeva and incomplete proving of Radix Welwitschia mirabilis are
published in the book: Three Trees,
survivors on earth.

The complete proving of Welwitschia mirabilis, Diospyros kaki Creveld, Radix Diospyros kaki Creveld, Pinus longaeva and incomplete proving of Radix Welwitschia mirabilis are published in the book: Three Trees, survivors on eart.

Can be ordered from Merlijn bookshop tel.: +31 23 5511991 or from Marijke Creveld.